Brazil plays its part as favorite

Tuesday

Jun 29, 2010 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2010 at 9:34 AM

JOHANNESBURG - Like cheetahs in bright yellow shirts, the Brazilian World Cup team turned Ellis Park into its own private game reserve last night, stalking its Chilean prey for the first half-hour, letting La Roja charge into Brazil territory in numbers and get a sniff of the goal. But then, in the 35th minute, the Brazilians pounced.

JOHANNESBURG - Like cheetahs in bright yellow shirts, the Brazilian World Cup team turned Ellis Park into its own private game reserve last night, stalking its Chilean prey for the first half-hour, letting La Roja charge into Brazil territory in numbers and get a sniff of the goal. But then, in the 35th minute, the Brazilians pounced.

The rout was on, and Brazil advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 3-0 victory.

Maicon curled a corner kick to the top of the box, where Juan rose to drive home a powerful header and give Brazil the 1-0 lead. Smelling blood, the Brazilians quickened their pace and went for the kill. Minutes later, with the largely pro-Brazil crowd still celebrating the first goal, they scored again.

Robinho took the ball down the left wing and sent it inside to Kaka, who one-touched a pass to Luis Fabiano. Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, anticipating a shot, dived to the ground, but Fabiano dribbled around him and slotted it in to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute.

The game got out of reach for Chile in the 59th minute on a clinical finish by Robinho. Midfielder Ramires intercepted a ball at the halfway line and made an exquisite run to the edge of the box, where he dumped it to Robinho, who curled it into the far corner.

The Brazil win set up what should be a thrilling match against the Netherlands on Friday.

Brazilian fans have complained that the Jogo Bonito, the "Beautiful Game," is not quite as beautiful under defensive-minded coach Dunga, that he has stifled their creativity. True, he likes to crowd the back, positioning two holding midfielders in front of his back four. But when the Brazilians feel like stringing together pretty passes, they do it with ease, alternating their pace in such a way as to keep their opponent off guard. It is, in its best moments, a beautiful thing to watch, even for the casual soccer observer.

Chile came out attacking, but history said Brazil was going to win. Brazil has now beaten Chile eight striaght times and outscored them 29-3 in those matches.

The last time Chile made the quarterfinals was in 1962.

"We deserved to get through the group phase, but at the same time, we deserved to lose this match," Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa said. "I wish the result would have been closer, but the bottom line is the supremacy of Brazil is something we couldn't overcome."

Cup-favorite Brazil, meanwhile, marches on with its tambourine-playing, green and yellow wig-wearing traveling party. Everywhere Brazil plays, a carnival follows. And many of the fans dressed in the Selecao's colors were not from Brazil. They were from South Africa, Japan and Australia. Brazil is the world's team.

Of course, the most passionate fans were back in Brazil, where the stock market had a light trading day due to the game. Most trading desks had skeleton staffs yesterday.

Dunga is determined to bring home an unprecedented sixth title.

"We have already said we are trying to play the open football which everyone wants to see," Dunga said. "We know there is always this expectation that Brazil will be the winners, but being the favorite does not allow you to win the World Cup. Some people doubted that we would perform, but as we go along, that confidence is growing and growing, and we hope to make it to the final."

They will have their hands full against the Dutch, who have won all four of their matches so far and are feeling confident after the return of star player Arjen Robben.

"Holland have a great World Cup tradition, and they are very similar to the South American teams, so we have to be extremely careful," Dunga said. "We have to be prepared to deal with extremely technical, excellent players. They are a solid team."

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